The rest of the gym went quiet while Benedettelli talked about realizing at age 18 how robotics and LEGO can be combined and embarked on a career designing LEGO robots and writing books about how to do it.

In a way, that was what the day was about — finding ways to get kids interested in the big education movement of the day, STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, with the hope they will find a career.

As NCFIRST executive director Marie Hopper put it, there are four applicants for every non STEM job in the state and more than one job for every STEM applicant.

“So we don’t have enough people for the STEM jobs in the state,” Hopper said. “Anything that gets kids excited about engineering is a good thing.”